My name is Levi, and I work in anime.

"OK, all done taking pictures, that's it."

Unlike usual, the headmaster was dressed impeccably in a suit today, looking quite respectable. If Li Wei hadn't witnessed firsthand how this guy got beaten up by Aunt Yueyong after gambling for free, he might have actually been fooled by his appearance.

"Wait a minute, Principal, could we take another picture?"

Li Wei, standing in the middle of the crowd, raised his hand and made this request.

"Kids these days are such a hassle. One graduation photo is enough; why do they need so many?"

The silver-haired, naturally curly man clearly lacked enthusiasm for the photography industry: "Instead of wasting that time, you should spend more time with your classmates at the graduation ceremony. It might just be the last time you ever see each other."

To say something discouraging on such a joyous day—the principal is indeed still the same old principal.

"Please take another picture, Director, please." Li Wei insisted again and again.

"You brat, do you know you're wasting everyone's time? If everyone wastes one minute, all forty people in the class will waste forty minutes, which is practically a lifetime!" Sakata Gintoki said this, but still asked for the others' opinions: "Kids, do you want to take another picture with him?"

The response received was:

"There can't be two suns in the sky, and Li Wei is our only sun. He said to take another picture, so we took another one!"

"Director, you're so long-winded. We could have finished filming in that time. Are you worried about wasting film? Is that a digital camera you have?"

"We only listen to Li Wei. If you keep talking nonsense, you good-for-nothing, we'll kill you!"

"Gintoki, has your diabetes affected your brain? According to your theory, if I send you to Thailand for a sex change and then have a hundred big men [beep] you, will you give birth in three days?"

Sakata Gintoki: "..."

After a year of hard work, thanks to his outstanding personal charm and the principles he possessed, Li Wei had become the king of the children in the kindergarten, commanding their every command with ease.

Confucius said that governing with virtue is like the North Star, which remains in its place while all the other stars revolve around it. This is the same principle.

By the way, the last sentence was said by a girl with a bun hairstyle who was eating vinegared kelp. It is said that she used to run an Yorozuya with the headmaster and a person wearing human glasses. Her words were quite impolite.

"Alright, since that's the case, let's take one more picture. Kids these days are such a hassle."

Muttering these words to himself, the silver-haired, naturally curly man obediently took another graduation photo before announcing the end of the event.

Gintoki felt something was off, even though the two photos were almost identical. He didn't know if it was just his imagination or what.

The kid in the red jacket next to Li Wei seems to have a more outgoing smile and looks more boyish than in the first picture.

Is it an illusion?

It seems I've been taking too many health supplements lately; I really should take a break for a while.

Shaking his head, the silver-haired, naturally curly-haired man, devoid of any semblance of the virtues of a people's teacher, thought to himself.

Chapter 19 Li Wei is currently a primary school student.

The sun was shining brightly today, the temperature was pleasant, and the feeling of the breeze on his cheeks made Li Wei feel genuinely comfortable.

Li Wei is 10 years old and is in the fourth grade of elementary school.

For him, life is pretty much the same as before: getting up early to go to school, enjoying his time on campus, then going home to do his homework, read books, practice high jump and boxing before taking a shower and going to bed.

The only difference is that, because she graduated from kindergarten, she rented a small apartment using Hiratsuka-nee's ID card and supported herself through government welfare policies and practicing medicine online.

Life wasn't exactly wealthy, but we were able to make ends meet. And after moving out, Li Wei experienced for the first time what it was like to go to school with friends.

"Good morning, Saeko."

The boy smiled and greeted his childhood friend. To be precise, ever since he started elementary school, he had been going to and from school with Saeko Busujima, day after day, rain or shine.

Whether by coincidence or not, the Ogawa apartment that Hiratsuka helped him rent happened to be near Saeko's house, but very far from Ryougi's. As a result, the boy and Ryougi never took the same route to or from school. This was something Ryougi greatly regretted.

Good morning, Avi.

A pretty girl with long, flowing purple hair stood at the apartment door and responded enthusiastically.

Wearing stretchy black stockings and a slightly too-short mini-skirt, her perfectly shaped thighs, no less impressive than anyone else's, supported her figure. Underneath her school uniform top was a crisp, clean white shirt, revealing glimpses of her delicate collarbones and snow-white shoulders. Her budding breasts were remarkably large for her age, so much so that the school uniform seemed almost too tight, as if it might burst at any moment from its full elasticity. The top, which would be loose on an average girl, looked somewhat restrictive on Saeko. A black belt perfectly defined her waist, cinching it upwards and accentuating her small, round buttocks.

A gentle breeze blew, lifting her long hair. The way she tossed her hair around made one want to approach her and strike up a conversation.

The premise is to ignore the long sword she is carrying on her back.

Li Wei wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the knife was a bit longer than when he first got it from Amagi Brilliant Park. It was as if, as Saeko grew up, the knife changed along with its owner, in pursuit of the perfect feel.

Could it be that the amusement park tour guide wasn't just a delusional teenager, and there's something about this thing that's worth studying?

If you have the chance, try contacting Qian Dou again.

With that thought in mind, the boy walked up to the girl, squatted down, and skillfully helped her tidy her shoelaces.

Saeko is usually very meticulous and never does anything too serious, but she is rather rough when it comes to her own affairs. She often leaves things at Li Wei's house, and her clothes are never quite perfect.

As a friend, Li Wei could only helplessly step in to help, such as tying her loose shoelaces, straightening her wrinkled clothes, tying her hair, and taking her to a lingerie store to pick out underwear that she would have to change because of puberty.

Now, the lingerie store staff always make fun of Li Wei whenever they see him.

The bright morning light bathed the road to school. A boy and a girl, who were very close, looked just like characters from a youth campus drama.

After spending these past few years together, Ryougi and Saeko's relationship has improved considerably; at least they no longer greet each other with cold shoulders. Aside from situations involving Li Wei, they could even be considered friends.

Of course, even if they are friends, they would never give in to Li Wei.

……

"Remember to study hard today too."

"The same goes for Avi."

The elementary school Li Wei attended was the largest in the area, had the strongest teaching staff, and had the highest enrollment rate for key middle schools. Unfortunately, Saeko and Ryougi were not assigned to the same class as Li Wei, so after entering the corresponding floor, Saeko was separated from the boy.

The two realms are much farther apart, even on different floors, requiring climbing stairs to meet.

Of course, this does not affect his friendship with Ryougi.

A bosom friend afar brings a distant land near; faced with the profound brotherhood between the two, a mere one-story floor is far too inadequate.

As always, the boy greeted his classmates as soon as he entered the classroom, then put down his schoolbag and arranged his stationery. Finally, as always, he walked up to the podium to prepare to write on the blackboard.

Compared to other ordinary students, Li Wei has an extra task—to copy the teacher's prepared notes onto the blackboard before class.

In fact, he does not hold any class position; he does it for a special reason.

In schools, there are three types of people who hold a very special status, standing apart from ordinary students.

The first type is people with exceptionally good academic performance. School is a microcosm of society, and those with good grades are naturally at the top of the food chain. As long as they don't do anything too outrageous, they will generally receive preferential treatment from teachers.

For example, if a student forgets to bring homework to school, those with good grades will naturally gain the trust of teachers and classmates, who won't think that the student deliberately didn't do it and is just making an excuse.

Similarly, people who excel in sports and art can also be included in this category.

The second type consists of individuals who are extremely violent in fights, whose basic social logic is built upon violence. Although schools have significantly reduced the use of violence, it still has its own space to exist within the basic framework of their operation.

The third type consists of people from exceptionally wealthy families. Japan retains many feudal legacies, and the ancestors of most local parliamentarians were local lords, daimyo, or samurai. Diet sessions were practically like daimyo going to Kyoto centuries ago. Truly influential people were rooted in their localities; going to the Tokyo Diet was purely for commuting convenience.

If your surname is Nakasone, then even if you come from a rural area like Gunma, no one in Tokyo will dare to look down on you.

If you live in Yokosuka and your surname is Koizumi, you can practically walk sideways in Tokyo.

If your surname is Shimazu and you are from Kagoshima, decades ago, even the big brothers of Etajima wouldn't dare use a spirit-injecting stick on you.

Li Wei possesses both the first and second qualities, so no one at school dares to bully him. The clueless young man who couldn't see the situation has been successfully educated by the boy's benevolence and righteousness. He is the kind of person who would rush to help old ladies cross the road after leaving school, which can be considered as making a contribution to society.

However, what truly set him apart from the crowd and gave him a superior status at school was a skill he had never noticed before.

—Can write Chinese characters.

Chapter 20 My Worry-Provoking Desk Mate

In Japan, being able to write kanji is a very impressive skill.

All high-end establishments use Chinese characters for menus, invitations, letters of appointment, certificates of merit, congratulatory letters, passports, admission notices, and university graduation certificates. There's even an unspoken rule in restaurants: the more Chinese characters you use, the more upscale you are.

The school has a special certificate called "Han Jian" (汉检), which is used to assess the number of Chinese characters a student recognizes. The higher the level, the more popular the student is at school.

The National Diet is considered a parliamentary assembly of the modern Japanese aristocracy, and everyone's name is written in kanji. There was once a man named Aso who, because of his poor literacy, wrote in katakana every day and was ridiculed as illiterate.

Even the rebellious army and the rioters felt that "Respect X and Punish X", "Heaven Punishes the Nation", or "Noisy and Superior" and "Night Road Death" were far superior to the soft and weak katakana.

The tombstone of a certain magnanimous former prime minister is entirely in Chinese characters, without a single katakana character. This speaks volumes about the importance of Chinese characters.

Li Wei not only knew how to write Chinese characters, but his calligraphy skills were also quite high. He could even write seal script—a script that stands at the pinnacle of Japanese sophistication.

This gave the boy an extra task compared to his classmates—helping the teacher copy the blackboard notes.

In the words of the teachers, whenever they were tired from grading homework, they would first look at Li Wei's work to cleanse their eyes, and they would feel particularly good after reading it.

During the Lunar New Year, he would also send New Year's greetings to his online and real-life friends, and the response was quite strong.

Two years ago, when Hiratsuka's grandfather, Mr. Bang, celebrated his birthday, Li Wei copied a birthday greeting in bird seal script and showed it to the old man. He loved it so much that it's still hanging in a prominent place in his study for everyone to see. I also moved Li Wei's seat to the head seat at the children's table.

Well, when Hiratsuka was sitting next to him, anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was the son-in-law personally chosen by the old man Bang.

Although the praise others gave him for his calligraphy was genuine, Li Wei still felt a little strange.

Having good handwriting is a basic quality of a gentleman. When he sees others praising him for this, he feels as if they are praising someone for knowing how to eat when hungry, drink when thirsty, go to the toilet when they need to, and sleep when they are tired—as if they are incredibly clever.

Strange in every sense of the word.

With all of the above buffs stacked up, almost no one in the elementary school would dare to oppose Li Wei.

The reason for using the word "almost" is that there are still a few special individuals.

For example, this one.

"Hey, top student, I heard you got into another fight outside school yesterday?"

Sitting to Li Wei's right, who was, in a sense, his deskmate, a little devil with twin ponytails, grinned maliciously: "Is it because there's no one left in school worth your time? That's really violent, Li Wei."

Rin Tohsaka, female, is Li Wei's classmate. She has been sitting next to him since the first year, so they are old acquaintances.

My family is from Fuyuki City. I heard they are quite influential there, and along with another family named Matou, they are known as the two major local powers in Fuyuki City.

A few years ago, the family's real estate investment failed, leading to some decline. They simply abandoned their old ways and chose to enter the internet and computer industry, parting ways with the Matou family.

Incidentally, the Matou family's investments are much more conservative, opting for more traditional film cameras, Blu-ray players, and plasma TVs, and they're also investing heavily in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. All I can say is wish them good luck.

This guy also has a younger sister named Sakura, who was sent to study with relatives in Europe after her family fell out with the Matou family and rarely returned home.

For some reason, Tohsaka always seems to be working against me, even though I've never provoked her.

"You mean after school yesterday? That definitely happened."

Li Wei thought for a moment, then quickly gave an answer: "Back then, a group of thugs were bullying the country bumpkin with glasses and braids. We and the big brother with cow dung hair who happened to be passing by gave them a good beating. They should be eating pork chop rice at the police station now."

Even under bright lights, there are shadows; negative things will always exist in every corner of society.

Delinquents and thugs are a group of people embodying all sorts of negative emotions, who can only survive in the shadows. They are filled with malice towards anything positive or uplifting, and their only goal is to defile beautiful things, making them more depraved and filthy.

Confucius said, "Rotten wood cannot be carved, and a wall of dung cannot be plastered." This is exactly the kind of person he was referring to.

Previously, when Li Wei and Saeko were walking home from school together, they saw a group of delinquents dragging a younger girl, seemingly intending to do something indecent. As a result, Saeko got her fill of slashing, and after the boy called the police, he took the girl to the hospital for a check-up and also had her inflamed appendix removed.

Since then, the surrounding criminal gangs have suffered a severe blow; those who even showed any promise were sent to Antarctica to shovel snow, and they weren't allowed to return until they'd cleared the area. This group of thugs must be newcomers from another region.

"So, Tohsaka-san, do you think we shouldn't help others?"

Li Wei calmly observed the little red devil next door: "This is not the kind of thinking an elegant gentleman should have."

"Tch..." Rin, with her twin tails, muttered a disapproving smirk.

After all, we've been classmates for four years, and we know each other inside and out.

Ultimately, Li Wei didn't really mind being picked on by this girl. As long as he was a little serious and acted a little more manly, the little red devil who was just now baring her teeth and claws would instantly crumble and become no different from any other little girl. And as long as he brought up topics like gentlemanly manners and elegance in front of her, this girl would instantly become a pushover, completely at his mercy.

The saying "a gentleman can be deceived in a way" perfectly describes this situation.

Teasing her occasionally is a way to lighten up my campus life.

"But speaking of which, how did you find out about this, Tohsaka?" Li Wei asked curiously.

Route-wise, Tohsaka's residence wasn't on the same route home from school, and the incident occurred in a deserted alley. Logically, unless that unfashionable girl with braided pigtails came to class to present him with a banner, no one in the class should have known.

"I heard it from someone else," the twin-tailed little devil quickly shifted the blame.

"I always feel like Tohsaka, you seem unusually sensitive about other girls around me. Is it just my imagination?" Li Wei looked at his deskmate and asked the question that had been on his mind all along: "You haven't been watching me all this time, have you?"